It’s most disappointing that there was a severe backlash against the recent action by the Malaysian authorities to fast-track the citizenship of seven foreign footballers.
According to the authorities, the players’ grandparents had resided in our multi-ethnic country a long time ago, possibly prior to the implementation of the Malaysia My Second Home programme.
Their residency, the authorities pointed out, gave legitimacy to the players’ current status of naturalised citizens.
Given Malaysia’s diverse population and cultures, one would obviously expect the people of Malaysia to be magnanimous enough to embrace the players from Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and Spain wholeheartedly. That’s the richness of life in diversity.
After all, the players have the much-needed prowess to help raise our national profile on the world stage or rather, on the global football field. A shot in the arm was what we sorely required to get our feet back on the ground.
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Amid this furore, the seven ‘heritage’ players were sadly suspended for one year and fined 2,000 Swiss francs (about RM10,560) each by the sport’s world governing body, Fifa, which insisted that the footballers weren’t Malaysian despite protestations from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
They have the necessary documents, thundered FAM, which subsequently appealed the Fifa decision. The final word on the appeal is nervously awaited.
Apart from having ancestry rooted in this land, it is comforting to know these players are conversant in Malay, the national language. Language proficiency, as we all know, is one of the prerequisites for becoming a Malaysian citizen.
Although dribbling a ball doesn’t require much use of any language, a knowledge of Malay may come in handy in certain circumstances.
For example, it may help the ‘heritage’ players to be alert to any attempt to deceive them through the fine print of, say, a legal document pertaining to a pizza joint purchase written in the national language.
Anyway, such a linguistic grasp would also enable the players to sing – with much melody – the national anthem, Negaraku, in a public space such as a stadium, as expected of any true-blue Malaysian.
An ability to fly the Jalur Gemilang, the national flag, the proper way would add value to their patriotism. By now, they ought to be aware of how meticulous certain patriotic people are when it comes to flying the national flag.
Some detractors, however, argued that we should instead look elsewhere in Malaysia for local-born footballers. There is, they insisted, a rich reservoir of talent in schools that is waiting to be harnessed.
Given that a football game requires strict discipline and keeping an eye on the ball, this regimen may not, unfortunately, suit many of our school children these days.
In particular, the students have short attention spans, as they’ve been generally ‘schooled’ by social media. One moment they’re studying, the next they’re passionately bullying fellow students they consider ‘weak’.
You can’t have good teamwork on the field when there are bullies ready to move the goalposts, even to the extent of scoring own goals. Besides, such a scenario would be nightmarish for those keen on placing bets on matches.
A good referee, who keeps a high standard and a code of ethical conduct, wouldn’t play ball with these bullies.
Fifa would frown on such bad behaviour too, as a line is consciously drawn for the game to be played well with integrity and honour.
Following the brouhaha over the ‘heritage’ players, an idea was floated around in the desperate search for talents who can help reclaim fame and honour for the country’s football ecosystem.It was suggested that among the many stateless children who are living in Malaysia, there are some who have an incurable passion for football.
But there’s a catch: their collective goal at the moment is to gain Malaysian citizenship they’ve been yearning for all these years.
It would seem that the ball is firmly in the court of the Malaysian authorities. – Malay Mail
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